How To Install and Boot Microsoft Windows Server 2019 from Persistent Memory

How To Install and Boot Microsoft Windows Server 2019 from Persistent Memory

In a previous post  I described how to install and boot Fedora Linux using only Persistent Memory, no SSDs are required. For this follow on post, I attempted to install Microsoft Windows Server 2019 and 2022 onto the persistent memory.

TL;DR - I was able to select the PMem devices as the install disk, but when the installer begins to write data, we get an “Error code: 0xC0000005”. I haven’t found a solution to this problem (yet).

Create a Bootable USB

Follow the instructions in my previous blog where I document How to Create a Bootable Windows USB in Fedora Linux .

Install Windows 2019

The first setup screen you’ll see when booting from the ISO or USB image allows you to select the installation language, Time and keyboard layout. Click “Next“ once you have confirmed your choices.

Click “Install Now” to begin the installation process

Select the Windows Server 2019 edition to install and click Next. If you’re not sure what edition you need, read the Comparison of Standard and Datacenter editions of Windows Server 2019 .

Read and accept the EULA License terms

Select ‘Custom: Install Windows only (Advanced)’

Select a disk or partition to install Windows Server, you can optionally create a new one from the available capacity or use all the available capacity by clicking “Next“. I found the 60GB PMem Devices listed towards the end as ‘Drive 6’ and ‘Drive 7’. Unfortunately, there’s no way to obtain information about the device, so you have to identify using the capacity.

Shortly into the installation, I encountered error 0xC0000005.

Most search results for this error during install indicate “The error halts the Windows OS installation and is mostly related to temporary hardware issues with the RAM or corrupt hard drive due to bad sectors.” I know the RAM and PMem is good, and I verified the USB image installs to an SSD without any issues.

Debugging the Install Error

To get a command prompt, press ‘OK’ in the error message -> Repair PC -> Troubleshoot -> Command Prompt.

I found a Microsoft Document that gave me some folders to look at for install/setup error. The following error was reported in X:\Windows\panther\setuperr.log

2021-06-14 18:12:22, Error [0x060126] IBS CallBack_ImageWasSelectedInUI: An error occurred while removing the MultiEdition key from the blackboard.[gle=0x000000490]
2021-06-14 18:13:35, FatalError [0x090001] PANTHR Exception (code 0xC0000005: ACCESS_VIOLATION) occurred at 0x00007FFF19A1CB96 in X:\Sources\Winsetup.dll (+000000000009CB96). Minidump attached (86929 bytes) to diagerr.xml and X:\windows\panther\mndD4C3.diagerr.mdmp.

If I get some free cycles, I’ll continue to debug the problem. If you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment.

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How to Boot Linux from Intel® Optane™ Persistent Memory

How to Boot Linux from Intel® Optane™ Persistent Memory

Introduction

In this article, I will demonstrate how to configure a system with Intel Optane Persistent Memory (PMem) and use part of the PMem as a boot device. This little known feature can reduce boot times for those that need it.

The basic steps include:

  • Configure the Persistent Memory in AppDirect Interleaved

  • Create two small SECTOR namespaces, one per Region

  • Install the OS and select one or both of the namespaces (single disk install, or mirrored LVM)

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How To Extend Volatile System Memory (RAM) using Persistent Memory on Linux

How To Extend Volatile System Memory (RAM) using Persistent Memory on Linux

Intel(R) Optane(TM) Persistent Memory delivers a unique combination of affordable large capacity and support for data persistence. Electrically compatible with DDR4, large capacity modules up to 512GB each can be installed in compatible servers alongside DDR on the memory bus.

Intel’s persistent memory product can be provisioned in a volatile “Memory Mode” which replaces DRAM volatile capacity with the persistent memory capacity, and persistent “AppDirect” mode which presents both DRAM and persistent memory to the operating system and applications. Both modes are explained in more detail here . It is possible to configure a system to utilize a percentage of persistent memory as volatile and persistent, but this mixed-mode still provisions all the DRAM capacity as a Last-Level Cache.

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Benchmarking GPUs: Measuring Throughput between CPU and GPU

Benchmarking GPUs: Measuring Throughput between CPU and GPU

This article was inspired by a LinkedIn post by Dennis Kennetz . The CPU to GPU bandwidth check is available on GitHub which uses a specific flow to assess the data transfer rates. Like many in the industry, my focus is on AI and ML workloads and how we can improve efficiencies and performance using DRAM, CXL, CPU, GPUs, and software improvements.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), the ability to process vast amounts of data efficiently is paramount. As AI models grow in complexity and size, the demand for high-performance computing resources intensifies. At the heart of this demand lies the crucial task of optimizing data transfers between various components of a computing system, particularly from DRAM, CPU, and emerging technologies like CXL (Compute Express Link) to and from the GPU.

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